Otherwise Known As
by Shoequeeny
Summary: The last thing Charlie Todd ever needed was Rory Gilmore back in his life. Crossover.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own either Dawson's Creek or the Gilmore Girls. Though Chad Michael Murray might be nice.

A/N: An idea that has been stewing for ages and finally got written (yes, I'm avoiding another story that needs finishing, how'd you know?) Anyway this is pretty much AU. Most of the details will appear in the story. Let's just say that Charlie never left and the rest will become clear. Issues with school and geography will probably be rectified later but I thought I'd put this up just to see the reaction. Enjoy.

*

Charlie listened to the heavy beat of the music that filtered through the club, letting his head bounce along to the rhythm. Loosely cradling the beer that he was nowhere near old enough to be drinking he idly glanced over the packed bar. Picking out his friends in various drunken incriminating positions he mentally catalogued them for later embarrassment, smirking the whole while.

He watched one such friend weave their way through the crowd, not noticing when they accidentally hit a girl in a tight dress in the face with their cocktail. Charlie watched the girl splutter as Jen, giggling, crashed into him. 

"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," she admonished. Charlie looked down at her, her forehead scrunched up in confusion. She tapped one high heeled foot on the floor as she looked up at him and then seemed to remember what she was going to say. "That's your name."

Charlie held back his laughter, knowing drunken Jen well enough by now to not laugh at her. She tended to cry that way. "That's right, Jen. Don't wear it out, now."

Jen considered this and nodded slowly. "Because then your name would Arlie." She took his drink away from him, ignoring his weak cry of protest and took a deep sip, seeming to forget her own drink in her hand. She looked over the dance floor and suddenly turned back to him, proclaiming, "You're not dancing," as though that was what she had come over to tell him originally. For all Charlie knew, it might have been.

He shook his head, reclaiming his drink. "Nope, I'm not wearing the right shoes." Charlie waggled a foot out as far as possible in the packed club. Jen stared down at his foot and then began to crouch down to examine it, as though to check it was, indeed, not a dancing shoe. Not able to hold back his laughter, Charlie tugged her up. She pouted at him and Charlie resigned his laughter to a mere smile.

"You used to dance when we dated," she said, folding her arms and looking as though she was about to cry. Charlie tried to remember one time when they'd dated that they'd ever gone dancing and came up blank, but decided not to push the point. He watched her nervously until she suddenly seemed to brighten. "But when we used to date you also used to cheat on me!" Charlie resisted the urge to roll his eyes. However much Jen claimed she was his friend and over the whole cheating thing, drunken Jen rarely failed to bring it up. Least this time she seemed to be happy about it. "And it's good that you don't do that anymore!" She grinned happily, hopping forward to peck him on the cheek.

"Hey Jen, whatcha doing?" CJ came up behind her, his question aimed more at Charlie. Jen span around and threw her arms around his neck.

"CJ!" She pulled back to regard him seriously. "I was telling Charlie that it's good he doesn't cheat anymore," CJ's eyes widened considerably. "And that he should dance more." She delivered CJ a far less chaste kiss and ran back into the crowd, lost in seconds in the writhing mass of dancers.

CJ watched her go, a bemused but affectionate look on his face. He turned back to the bar, leaning next to Charlie. "She is aware that you're single and therefore have no opportunity to cheat, right?" CJ said, shooting him an amused glance.

Charlie laughed, "I think she's a few too many Mudslides down the line for that to be a pressing issue for her." He glanced back around the packed club. "But on that note I think I might take off."

CJ frowned. "Ah, come on. I need the non-dancing company."

"Nah," said Charlie, rooting in his pockets for his cloakroom slip, "sorry, man. But the couple-dom of the evening is causing me to want to do nothing more than go home and sleep." He gestured to the dance floor. "Even _Dawson_ hooked up." CJ laughed.

"Okay," he raised his Coke in goodbye, "you'll be at the bar for lunch though, right?"  
  
"And miss them all being hungover whilst we dig into a fry-up?" He grinned wickedly. "Hell, no."

*

Letting himself into the apartment, Charlie threw his keys onto the coffee table, shrugging out of his jacket as he headed up to his room. Collapsing onto the bed he stared up at the ceiling, sleep alluding him.

He was eighteen years old, a year ahead of where he should be, due to some wonderful early placement schemes that were available at military school. And he was a thousand miles away, metaphorically if not literally, from the boy he used to be. Or at least he wished he was.

As much as Charlie loved Jen, he hated being around her when she was drunk. He hated being reminded of the way he'd treated her. The money he'd spent on that hacker changing his files was supposed to make him a different person.

Charlie sighed and kicked off his shoes. Joey had been another mistake. Too much like someone else he'd spent far too long chasing, she was far happier with Pacey. Charlie smirked, from the knowing looks that Jack and Jen exchanged it seemed that them getting back together had been far too predictable. Pulling out his wallet Charlie was mildly gratified to see the amount of money he had left. Not getting drunk had it's benefits and as he stretched out across the bed taking advantage of all the spare space, it occurred to him that not bringing home every random girl who crossed his path had it's benefits too.

A different name was supposed to make him a different person. A new beginning. Flinging an arm across his eyes it occurred to him that maybe there was a bit too much of Tristan DuGrey still in Charlie Todd.

*

By the time that Charlie arrived at the bar the next afternoon the table was already full, if slightly more quiet than normal. CJ and Pacey seemed to be dominating the conversation. Charlie grinned to himself, it was how it normally was when they all went out drinking. CJ, of course, didn't drink and Pacey's finely honed sense of honour meant that he avoided getting completely plastered when that was Joey's prerogative for the evening.

Dropping himself into the chair that was left Charlie grinned broadly at all of his friends. "So, how is everyone this morning?" He tapped Jen on the head as she lay slumped over the table, a glass of water in her hand. 

Joey raised her head from where it was slumped next to Jen's and glared blearily at him. "Be nice," she struggled into a sitting position and narrowed her eyes at him, "Did I do anything last night that needs to be reported?" She gestured at Pacey, "He doesn't remember too much and," she gestured at CJ, "he's too much of a gentleman to say," she smiled sweetly. "I figure I don't have that problem with you, so spill."

Charlie plastered an expression of mock indignation on his face. "Joey! Me? Not be a gentlemen? I resent that."

The whole table scoffed. "Right," Jack drew the word out into two syllables, nudging David conspiratorially, "I've heard you when _you're _ drunk, Charlie. The last thing you are is a gentleman."

Dawson laughed. "Yeah, I remember Audrey's going away party…"

"Hey!" interrupted Charlie. "Can we get back to Joey's drunken misadventures?"  
  
"No," said CJ, his mischievous streak appearing as it often did when they were teasing his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend, "because Joey doesn't have any. Unlike you at Audrey's going away party and that night in the college bar and that party over at…"

"Okay, okay," Charlie held his hands up in surrender, "I get it. But maybe I'm turning over a new leaf." They all stared at him incredulously. "What?" Charlie defended himself.

"It's just, _you_, man?" Pacey asked, waving his hands for emphasis, "a new leaf?"

Charlie let out an exasperated sound. "Why is this so hard for people to believe?"

"Because we know you, Charlie?" Jen said, smirking.

Charlie stole a fry from Dawson's plate and looked around at them all seriously. "Well, I will prove you all wrong and become different."

Joey groaned. "You can't do that. You provide us with half our gossip since me and Pacey got back together and ended the infernal love triangle once and for all."

Jen and Jack appeared dumbstruck by this and from what Charlie had heard he wasn't surprised. The love triangle obviously wasn't something they were used to joking about. But Dawson just nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Joey's right," he took a sip of his water and waved it at Jen, "Hey, Jen, me and you will have to hook back up. That way CJ can get mad and then we can have a big, manly fight." 

CJ looked him up and down as he draped a possessive arm around Jen. "Really, Dawson. I would completely kick your ass."

Pacey smiled. "He's got you there man. Now CJ and Jack?" he paused, thoughtfully. "That might be a fight worth seeing."  


Joey slammed her hands on the tabletop. "Well, that's that then." She gestured to CJ. "You, forget the whole straight thing," she made little quote marks in the air around the word straight, "and sleep with David."  
  
Laughter rose up around the table as they tried to find the combination that would cause the most trouble in the group, finally deciding on Joey and Dawson just for old time's sake. As Charlie leaned back in his chair, his laughter joining the others, he found himself thinking that sometimes Charlie Todd just had more _fun_. Even if he did have less money.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie woke up to the sound of laughter drifting up from the kitchen below him. He stretched languidly for a moment debating whether he wanted to lie there for a little while longer or go an grab a cup of coffee and see what was so amusing.

The decision was made for him when a heavy knocking on his door preceded Pacey's entrance. He came in grinning and passed Charlie a mug of coffee before flopping down on the chair in the room. He grinned wryly at Charlie. "Needed to escape the womenfolk," he explained.

Charlie raised his eyebrows, taking a cautious sip of his drink. Wincing slightly as the liquid burnt his tongue he stared at Pacey curiously. "What did you do?"

Pacey agitatedly threw his hands in the air. "Why is it that upon the expression of amusement from the women in our lives you automatically assume that I am the one who amuses them?"

Charlie didn't answer just took a sip of his drink and looked at him pointedly. Pacey shrugged. "I can't help it. My position as the Boston nee Capeside joker has been cemented for years." He stood up, draining the last of his own drink. "Suppose I better get back down there and provide some more hilarity." He pulled the door open, tossing over his shoulder. "The girls told me to tell you to get your ass downstairs for breakfast." He turned and grinned. "Joey's cooking."

Charlie grinned back. "And the source of your jibing is revealed."

"Pretty much," Pacey laughed, before closing the door, his footsteps heavy on the stairs as he went back to the kitchen.

Charlie watched after him reflectively for a moment, realising, however cheesy it sounded, that he was glad that he and Pacey got past all their issues over Joey, as he was a good friend. He took a gulp of coffee. Because the good friends always provided the coffee.

*

Tugging on a t-shirt Charlie ambled into the kitchen to find everyone assembled around the large table. He blinked blearily at the clock as he headed towards the coffee maker, his now empty mug gripped tightly in his hands. "You do realise that this is an insanely early hour to be up on a Saturday, right?"

Joey shrugged, handing him a slice of toast over her shoulder. "We're headed down to Capeside for the weekend."

Charlie looked at the toast for a moment, keeping his expression blank. "All of you?" He looked at CJ and David, the only other people who were only Capeside alum by association with their respective partners. "Yep," said Jack, noticing his gaze. "You're totally welcome to come, man. Just toss some clothes in a bag."

Charlie shrugged as he dropped into the empty seat, hating once again the lack of history that he shared with these people. It was one of the reasons that he often felt closer to CJ and David, though by all rights CJ should've hated him. Of course, though, even him and David had their connection to the group through their partners. As silly as it sometimes sounded even in his own head, Charlie sometimes felt that being a 'friend' of this close knit group was really hard work.

And Charlie had never really had to work for friends before.

He shrugged in response to Jack's offer. "Nah, I got some stuff to do, it's cool," he plastered a smile on his face, "And it might mean that I get some space instead of being constantly bombarded by my roommate's girlfriends," Jen threw a piece of toast at him, he held up a hand to ward her off, "and maybe I won't be woken at an insanely early hour by one of my roommates." he glared at Pacey.

"Well, I figured New Leaf Charlie wouldn't be entertaining," Pacey said with a grin.

Charlie decided to ignore that. "I still don't see why I had to get up so early though."

Pacey held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, don't blame me. That was the girl's idea."  
  
Joey patted him on the head. "We wanted to say goodbye and made sure you ate some proper food."

Reaching for the sugary cereal in the centre of the table, Charlie found his hand being swatted. "Proper food, Charlie." Pacey admonished jokingly holding up his spoon with which he had been eating the very same cereal, earning a glare from his girlfriend.

Charlie smiled at him and grabbed the box, rooting through it's contents. "Hey, where's my toy?"

*

Whenever Charlie had the house to himself he always had the overwhelming urge to do something constructive, like practice his guitar or do some of his schoolwork or even perhaps clean his room. But all Charlie ever seemed to be able to do when he is all alone, with no worry of interruption, was to look through the ragged box that sat at the back of his closet.

As Charlie heard the car set off down the street he trudged back up to his bedroom, the silence of an empty house almost comforting to him, reminding him of his childhood home far more than he wished it did.

He stared at his bed for a moment, the comfy mattress and heavy duvet calling to him. Charlie hovered indecisively for a moment before his gaze was drawn to the door of the closet. Yanking it open Charlie shoved aside the shoes that littered the floor of the closet, grabbing the box and depositing it in front of him on the carpet.

He sighed heavily, opening the lid almost gingerly. The first photo that lay in the box made his breath catch in his throat. The woman was pretty, stood on a white beach with dark blonde hair falling in perfectly coiffed waves and blue eyes that shone in a reflection of Charlie's own. She was smiling at a camera, clutching a small baby in her arms as her hair was blown to the side by the sea breeze. Charlie lightly traced his finger over the picture trying to remember if his mother had ever smiled like that when he was old enough to actually remember.

He gulped, remembering the expressions he was more used to seeing on his mother's face. Glazed detachment, those blue eyes dulled by a decade's heavy drinking. Not that she ever really looked him in the eye. 

The next picture explained why. Charlie was smiling in it, his uncontrollable hair seriously out of control, sticking up in all directions underneath his baseball cap. His father was behind him, a protective hand on his son's shoulder as he grinned broadly for the camera, the smile and everything else about him identical to Charlie's now mature face. A face his mother couldn't bear to look at.

Charlie threw the picture away in disgust. He doubted his father even remembered his son's name, now-a-days. Underneath the few photographs that Charlie had salvaged from his old life lay the scant reminders of the existence that he used to lead.

His old passport lay with a dozens of different stamps in it along with his birth certificate and a few other documents. His Chilton tie was sandwiched in his yearbook and it was this that Charlie turned to next.

His smiling visage practically winked at him from the page and he cringed at how conceited and arrogant he looked. He risked a glance in the mirror, his sleep tousled image thankfully nothing like the yearbook picture. To further reassure himself he looked at the group photo tacked into his mirror, recognising that the relaxed posture and easy smile lacked a lot of the arrogance it used to possess. 

Not that it was completely gone. Charlie cringed again, and wondered why he always put himself through this, when he began to read the comments jotted in the book. From the suggestive to the downright lewd the comments from the girls were enough to make even possibly Jen blush and the ones from the guys weren't much better.

Charlie ran a hand through his hair as he thought of the girls that he'd bedded at college. He wondered what they would have written in his yearbook if he'd had one. Or even if he'd hung around long enough to get their name. A surge of anger rushing through him, Charlie hefted up the yearbook and tossed it at the wall, it's resounding thud doing nothing to make him feel any less annoyed with himself.

He half-heartedly kicked the box before wandering downstairs, deciding that getting dressed could wait until he'd drowned his sorrows and forgot about the life he was leading with some morning cartoons.

*

"It was cool to be home but sometimes it's just nice to back with your friends and hanging out, you know?" Pacey leant against the cabinet and smiled at Charlie as he busied himself making a sandwich.

Throwing the knife onto the table, Charlie turned to face him. "You and Joey had a fight, hey?"

Pacey actually looked surprised at this. "What? How did you… Did she say something?" 

Charlie held his hands up in surrender, munching on his sandwich. "Nope but she ain't here and the only time she ain't here is when you guys fight.

"Who had a fight?" Jen strolled into the kitchen, her satin robe tied loosely around her. She scowled at the coffee maker and began to make a new pot. She glanced around her and made a knowing face. "Oh, Joey's not here. So, I'm guessing the two of you."  
  
Pacey shrugged. "It wasn't like it was a huge deal."  
  
"But you're freaking out about it." Jen pointed out sensibly, tied her curly hair back in a messy ponytail.

"You and Joey have a fight, man?" CJ asked as he came into the kitchen and saw who was there. He grabbed Jen around the waist and kissed her on the cheek, spinning her so she was leaning comfortably back against his chest. Charlie smirked at the question and took another bite of his sandwich so as not to laugh at the look on Pacey's face.

"How does everyone know that?" 

"Because she's not here," CJ said sensibly as though Pacey was an idiot.

"Yeah," said Charlie, hastening to steal a cup of coffee from the machine and earning a glare from Jen. He looked at her as he spoke, grabbing another cup and filling it for her. "I don't see why you and Joey don't just give up and get rid of your place." Jen glared at him even more fiercely as CJ awkwardly cleared his throat. Charlie just grinned. "Or forgot I said anything." He handed Jen her mug as she continued to glare at him. "What? No thank you?"

The slam of the front door had them all turning to the entrance as Joey walked in, her slim figure wrapped up against the chill air. She smiled sheepishly at the others before turning to Pacey. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders at him and he grinned happily, gathering her up in his arms.

Jen cooed over the moment as they made up without words. "I can't believe that you guys can get over a fight that easily now. What happened to all the angst?"  
  
Joey extracted herself from Pacey's arms. Shrugging as she draped her coat over the back of one of the chairs. "I guess we grew up."

Smiling, Pacey looped an arm around her shoulders. Charlie looked away, a gnawing pain in his stomach growing. He knew it had nothing to do with specifically Joey, more just the whole couple situation. It still made him acutely aware of his single status among the group.

"Hey, Pace?" Jen asked as she flicked through the newspaper on the table. "You working the lunch shift today?" Charlie glanced over at her. CJ hovered inches away from her, he didn't even seem to notice his proximity, like it was just his natural position.

"Yeah," said Pacey, breaking off whatever he was whispering in Joey's ear, a conversation that Charlie was sure he didn't want to be privy to, "I finish at six. Why?"  
  
Jen shrugged. "Figured we could all go catch that movie. You know, the one with the bugs?"

"Yeah, I'm in," Pacey said, leaning back down to Joey. She giggled and then spoke up.

"Count me out," she said, sighing. "One, I got a ton of reading to catch up on. Two, I got that writer's seminar for the journal and three, big, creepy bugs? So not my cinematic cup of tea." She grinned suddenly. "Oh, take Dawson though. He has serious issues with spiders." She smiled up at Pacey, "You remember? The garage when we were eight?"  
  
Pacey burst into hysterical laughter and didn't seem to be able to do anything but nod. Charlie glanced at the others. Jen was just watching them with an amused look on their face, apparently she'd become used to their shared childhood jokes. CJ didn't seem to care and Charlie, knowing him, thought that that was most likely the case.

But Charlie couldn't help but feel suddenly jealous. He had a sudden inexplicable burst of homesickness for the kids that he'd gone through school with up until his ejection from Chilton.

Taking a deep gulp of coffee to quell the feeling only to find the mug empty, Charlie slammed the cup down harder than he had intended, making Pacey stop laughing. "You okay?" CJ asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," Charlie muttered. It had been a long time since he'd felt any sort of homesickness and he could only imagine that it was because of the sifting through of old memories that he's partaken in that weekend. They were all watching him curiously. "I just remembered something that I've got to do, okay? I'll see you guys later."

He was half way out of the door when Jen's voice stopped him. "You coming to see the movie tonight?"

Turning to look back at them Charlie knew that the last thing he wanted to do was see a movie. But they were his friends. And he needed them. He offered a shaky smile. "Yeah, I'll be there."


	3. Chapter 3

"Well that was one of the most boring experiences of my life," Joey exclaimed, dropping herself onto Pacey's knee and burying her head in his shoulder.

"Ah, poor baby," Pacey cooed. Joey pulled back to pout at him.

"Everyone was really smart and opinionated."

Pacey cocked an eyebrow at her. "Then surely you fit in perfectly?"

Joey made a loud noise of protest and batted him around the head, causing some patrons of the bar from other tables to look over at them curiously.

Jen smiled at them and reached for her cocktail. "Least you didn't have to sit through our movie."

Wrinkling her nose Joey replied; "That bad?"  
  
"That bad," Charlie agreed. "I thought you were looking forward to the whole journal writing experience?"  
  
"We edit, not write," Joey filched a sip of Pacey's beer. "And I was, but it was just kinda dull in the end. Not really what I expected it be. So how bad was your movie?"  
  
The others shared looks. "Truly horrendous." David offered. Joey smiled in sympathy. 

"Well, I did tell you that the giant bugs were a bad idea," she looked around, confused. "Hey, where's Dawson?"  
  
More looks were shared, this time of amusement. "Erm," Charlie said, trying to not laugh. "He may have been a little freaked out by all the bugs."

Joey burst out laughing. "Seriously?"

Pacey looked at her sceptically. "You do remember the garage, right?"

She just laughed harder. Charlie watched her with an amused grin on his face. He always forgot just how easily Pacey could make her laugh and felt a familiar twinge that he wasn't able to do that for her. Looking at the laughing couples stationed around him, literally everyone paired off since Dawson had gone home, Charlie felt himself once again to be all alone. A cocktail cherry thrown at his head knocked him out of his contemplation.

"Hey!" He yelled, rubbing his hair where the cherry had hit. "What was that for?"  
  
Jen shrugged innocently. "You just looked like you needed to be woken up."

"Well, I was fine until small fruits were thrown at my head, thank you very much."

"You know what you need?" Jack said, looking up from where he was precariously balancing sugar packets into a pyramid, David's arm loosely thrown around his waist.

"What?" Charlie asked sceptically.

"A girl," Jack announced grandly, adding one more pack of sugar and then leaning back to admire his work.

Charlie saw an unholy light flicker in Jen's eyes and he held up a hand to ward her off. "No, I do not need to be set up."  
  
"Yes you do!" said Jen excitedly. "You're fine at picking up random skanks but I think that to be in a deep, emotional, longer lasting than a month relationship you may need some outside intervention."  
  
"Guys, I don't think that this is a very good idea," Pacey said warily.

Charlie held a hand out to him as proof. "See! A terrible idea! He agrees with me."

"Oh, shut up you," Joey muttered, batting Pacey on the head, she seemed to be getting far too much into the idea. "Now who do we know who is single and willing to put up with him?"

"Hey!" Charlie protested whilst the others giggled. 

Jen chewed her lip thoughtfully and poked CJ. He sighed in resignation and leaned into his bag to retrieve a pen.

"A pen? What the hell do you need a pen for?" Charlie exclaimed.

"To make a list of potential girlfriends," Jen told him patronisingly, the 'silly' implied.

Charlie groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

"Right, there's Samantha in my Lit class," Joey offered. 

Jack wrinkled his nose. "The one with the hair?"

"Yes," said Joey, raising an eyebrow, "She does have hair."

"But she has bad hair."

Joey's eyes widened and Jen hastened to intervene. "Okay, okay. We won't add Samantha to the list. What about Lucy?"  
  
"The waitress at my restaurant?" Pacey asked. Jen nodded in reply. "I guess she's a nice girl but I don't know if she's right for Charlie."  
  
Bristling at this, Charlie said; "What I'm not good enough for nice girls?" The others all gave him patronising looks. "What?" He defended himself.

"Charlie, dear," Joey leaned forward to pat him on the head, "It's not that you're not…" She was interrupted by her phone ringing and, after glancing at the screen, she answered with a cheerful "Hi!" 

Jen continued to chew thoughtfully on the end of her pen. "Hmm, do you guys know Mandy at the radio station?"  
  
Charlie gave up and let his head thump back against the chair back as he listened to the others compare notes on random women.

"But she has all those piercings!" Jack was protesting about some girl that David knew.

"She's cool!"  
  
"Charlie's like an advert for Abercrombie and Fitch, would a girl with piercing really go for him?"

"Good point."  
  
"Oh, I know this chick from my cookery class that's kinda cute," Pacey offered as Joey clicked her phone shut.

"Cute, hey?" she teased.

"Not as cute as you, honey. Who you talking to?"  
  
"A girl from my journal edit class. She's going to hang with us tomorrow, she doesn't know anyone in town."

"Ooh," Jen piped up, "is she a potential candidate?"

Joey took a sip of Pacey's drink. "Not really, Rory's a bit too academic for dear old Charlie."

Charlie considered retorting but decided he couldn't be bothered as the description really was quite apt.

"Rory? That's a girl's name?" Pacey asked.

"Yeah, _Pacey_, whatever can her parent's have been thinking?" Jen chided gently.

Joey laughed. "Yeah, Pace, you didn't exactly get stuck with a normal name yourself. And Rory's named after her mom. Lorelai or something."

Charlie suddenly felt slightly ill. He'd been pretty surprised when he'd never ran into anyone he knew when he met Joey, who went to Worthington, but the name Lorelai in relation to Rory was ringing some very familiar bells. 

He tried to remember the girl at Chilton's name. For God's sake he'd had a crush on her for like a year, you'd think he'd remember it. _Think, Charlie, think_. It was definitely Rory, that much he was certain.

"With a name like Rory she needs a really feminine surname," Charlie tried, ignoring the odd looks his friends sent him.

"Uh-huh," Joey said, humouring him. "Well, I don't know if it's really feminine, but her surname is Gilmore."  
  
Rory Gilmore. He repeated it in his head. _Rory Gilmore_, _Rory Gilmore_. Fuck. That was it. That was that girl's name. Damn it.

"So, what are you guys all doing tomorrow?"  
  
"Just hanging, I guess." CJ said, shrugging.

"Right," Charlie knew he sounded weird, but he couldn't help it. He quickly drained his beer.

"Wow, man. Slow down," CJ chided, taking the empty bottle away.

"Yeah, sure," Charlie stood up, his movements fidgety as he tried to find his jacket, "Anyway I have some work to do and I'll probably be doing it all tomorrow as well. So, I guess I'll see you whenever."  
  
"Man, we live with you," Jack pointed out, regarding Charlie warily.

"Right," said Charlie, flailing for words, "I do. So I'll probably see you later at home. But not out. Because I need to work."  
  
"Charlie, are you okay?" Jen asked, looking concerned.

  
Charlie froze for a moment, staring at all of them. "I'm just fine." And then he turned and practically ran from the bar.

*

Pacing around the still empty house Charlie felt his stomach flip-flopping. He kept telling himself that there was a very good chance that Miss Rory Gilmore wouldn't even recognise him and then he kept remembering how he had tormented her for a year. And he was fairly sure that his disappearance might even have migrated out as far as her outward social circle.

Charlie remembered how irked he had been when she had refused his advances and he couldn't help the sting of male pride that the memory evoked. He was having a hard time remembering what she looked like, a blur of dark hair and blue eyes all his memory could come up with. He was certain that she was pretty, there wouldn't have been any other reason that he would have gone after her, but he couldn't recall her exact features for the life of him. 

Growling in frustration with himself and his inability to not let the arrival of this girl annoy him, he stomped up the stairs to look for her picture in his yearbook.

After dragging it out of it's closet confines, Charlie flicked to the right page. He eyed the picture critically, recognising why his younger self had chased this girl. She was definitely pretty and he couldn't help but wonder if the case was still true. Shaking his head to clear his mind of those thoughts he tried to remember anything else about Rory.

She was smart, always had her head in a book. It was bad. He couldn't remember one more thing about her.

Resisting the urge to once again lob the book at the wall, Charlie slid into a sitting position. The arrival of someone who had never even had that big an impact on him was throwing his current life off-kilter and he was realising that his previous pledges to change his life had never really come true.

Because when he recalled the girls that he'd hooked up with at college, barring a few exceptions, he wasn't able to bring to mind anything more about _them_ than he could about Rory.

Charlie was just going to have to stay away from her. Because with his new found refusal to not be the same guy he always was the last thing he needed was a reminder of Tristan DuGrey.


	4. Chapter 4

If the past few days had taught Charlie anything it was that his friends were ridiculously hard to hide from. Of course the fact that he lived in the same house as the vast majority of them kind of made it difficult to avoid them all the time and add to that the fact that the vast majority of his female friends were dating his roommates made it nigh on impossible to stay out of their way.

Charlie had never spent so much time in the library in his life. He was fairly positive that his latest assignment for history of music was going to kick ass but he still wasn't entirely comfortable surrounded by all the musty books. 

He was pawing his way through a dense looking volume whose cover had pretty told him he wouldn't be able to understand when he heard a familiar sounding voice.

"Charlie?" He span round to see CJ leaning against the end of the row of books, an amused smirk on his face. "You still hiding out in the library?"

Charlie grinned. "I'm just working, not hiding." He pointed at CJ with the book. "You guys are just far too paranoid."

"Then why haven't you been hanging with us all week?" CJ pointed out pragmatically. He held up his hands to ward of Charlie's answer. "And don't say it's because you're working. Because _nobody _can work that much." He paused and then added. "Except maybe Joey."

Charlie sighed, exasperated. "I just wanted some time alone, that's all, man. I'm fine."  
  
CJ stared at him for a moment and Charlie nearly groaned. He could practically see him clicking into counsellor mode. "You know I get it, too."

Charlie looked at him incredulously. "Get what? And don't do any of that psycho-babble shit on me, will you?"

CJ shrugged and grabbed a book off the shelf. "They're a tough group to be friends with, that's all."  
  
"Yeah, but you date Jen."

"Yeah I do," CJ started to flip through the book. "And sometimes it's really hard knowing that they all probably know her better than I do," he grinned wryly and held up his book, "I gotta go work. But I'll see you later?"  
  
Charlie shrugged in response and CJ walked off. He let his head thump back against the wall. He felt bad about the fact he was still going to have to avoid them for a while when everything CJ had said was true. But he'd overheard enough conversations to know that Rory was becoming a fixture of their little group, Dawson, apparently, even had a crush on her. And that meant that he couldn't run the risk of running into her. 

*

Charlie's alarm clock rang shrilly in his ears at far too early an hour on a Saturday morning but he'd learnt that the only way to avoid his friends in the morning was either to be up late or up early.

He normally went for the late option but it being a Saturday he knew that the others would all follow the same routine. Running a hand over sleep-mussed hair Charlie stumbled out of his room in search of coffee. Bashing a toe on the guitar he'd left leaning against the wall in the hallway, he was too busy cursing to notice the two people sat in the kitchen straight away.

Rubbing his bruised toe and squinting against the sunlight streaming through the windows Charlie barely raised a hand in greeting before shuffling over to the coffee maker. Sighing in contentment at the fact a pot was already made he happily poured himself a mug.

"What Charlie? Did you decided that shirts were too passé to bother putting one on before ambling down to the kitchen?" Joey's acid tones broke into his coffee-filled happy mood.

Smirking Charlie spoke as he turned around. "What, Jo? Is my naked chest too much for you to take?"  
  
Joey glared at him from her position at the table but Charlie's attention was held by the pretty brunette sat next to her. Even if he hadn't looked up her yearbook picture Charlie was fairly positive that he would have recognised Rory Gilmore straight away. She really was still pretty, her hair a bit shorter and her expression slightly more shocked than he was used to seeing but that wasn't exactly unexpected when Tristan DuGrey walked into a room.

Rory's eyes were wide and her mouth had fallen open slightly. Charlie just kept staring at her, unable to summon any words. Joey suddenly seemed to notice them watching each other. "Oh, right! You guys haven't met. Rory, this is the elusive Charlie. Charlie, Rory."

Rory tore her attention away from Charlie to turn to Joey. "Charlie?" She asked weakly. Charlie let out a low groan.

"Yeah, he normally wears clothes, though," Dawson said jovially, wandering into the kitchen, trailed by the others.

"Morning, Rory," Jen said perkily, dropping into the seat next to her, "you sleep okay on the couch?" 

"Yeah, it was fine, thanks," she croaked out, barely sparing a glance for Jen, her attention fixed on Charlie.

"Really, Charlie, could you put a shirt on?" Dawson said, sounding annoyed as he followed Rory's eyes. Charlie distinctly saw Pacey hide a smile behind his hand.

"Yeah, you're distracting innocent Rory over there, man," Jack said, laughing. He noticed Charlie's expression. "She stayed over last night after we hung at the coffee shop, that's okay, right?" 

It took Charlie a moment to register the question was aimed at him. "Yeah, fine. Why wouldn't it be?" He mumbled.

"Charlie?" Rory asked again, this time her attention fixed on Charlie's face. He stared at her.

CJ noticed the tension. "Yeah, that's his name. Everything okay, Rory?"

Rory continued to watch Charlie, her expression challenging. Charlie looked away. "Sure, everything's fine," she stood up and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, "I'm just going to call my friend Paris."

This galvanised Charlie into action and he dropped his coffee mug on the counter and ran to face Rory before anyone even realised what was happening.

"Rory, please," Charlie started.

Her eyebrows raised. "So, it is you!" She exclaimed sardonically.

"Rory."

"I'm surprised you don't call me Mary."

The rest of the kitchen stared at them as they faced off in the small space between the table and the oven. "That was a long time ago."

"Well, I suppose if you call yourself Charlie…"

"Rory!" Charlie interrupted her, his hand shooting out to grab her wrist, "Please don't call Paris."

Rory looked down in disdain at the hand on her wrist and Charlie quickly withdrew it. Charlie looked at her imploringly as she folded her arms and moved the disdainful look from his hand to his face.

"What the hell is going on?" Dawson's voice interrupted the moment though for all the movement the two made they might as well have been the only people in the kitchen.

"Why don't want you want me to call her?" Rory asked suddenly, her arms dropping to her sides.

"Guys?" Jen's tentative voice cut in.

"I…" Charlie flailed, "I just don't want anyone to know."

"She was worried about you, you know," Rory rolled her eyes, muttering, "God knows why."

"Excuse me, guys?"

Charlie ran a hand through his hair. "I just…I just can't deal with people like Paris and then just…just everyone knowing where I am."

"But that was your life," Rory sounded truly confused. "You know? King of the school. I just don't get it."

"King of the school? You two know each other?"

Charlie watched her for a moment. "We were never friends, Rory. You don't have to get it," he looked away from her, "I'd just really appreciate it if you didn't tell Paris, that's all."

"Paris is my friend, _Charlie_."

"Oh come on, Rory! Since when were you and Paris Gellar that great friends anyway?" Charlie practically yelled.

"Hey! You've been gone a hell of a long time!" Rory actually yelled back. 

"Please!" Charlie yelled, the sarcastic tone he was aiming for actually sounding sincere.

All of Rory's anger seemed to deflate. She threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine," she grabbed her things off the table, turning away from him, "but she is still my friend. So, tell her," she poked him lightly with her phone, "Or I will." She turned to the others and smiled hesitantly. "Thanks for letting me crash here. I'll see you later." With a small wave she left the room.

Charlie sighed and slumped against the oven, dropping his head into his hands.

"Um, Charlie?" Opening his eyes slowly, Charlie was confronted with a group of very confused and slightly pissed off people.

"Yeah?" he said slowly, moving round the kitchen to retrieve his coffee mug, suddenly very aware of the fact he was only wearing his boxers.

Pacey barked an incredulous laugh. "Charlie! What the hell, man? What just happened?"

Charlie downed the contents of his mug and turned to stare at them. He blinked slowly, only slightly annoyed when they were all still there. "Nothing happened."  
  
Jen raised her eyebrows. "Nothing happened? Whatever, Charlie."

"Yeah, tell us the truth, Charlie," Dawson demanded, sounding far more annoyed then everyone else. Charlie belatedly remembered that he had somewhat of a large crush on Rory. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, he hated to imagine what their little confrontation must have looked like to him.

"Look, guys," Charlie suddenly felt very, very tired as he moved across the kitchen, pushing past all his friends, "I'm going to go an put some clothes on and then I'm going to tell you once again that nothing happened." Just before leaving the room he fixed them all with a pointed glare, "Because nothing did."


	5. Chapter 5

Charlie found Rory exactly where he expected her to be.

In a coffee shop right next to the book shop, head buried in a copy of some obscure novel that Charlie wasn't even going to bother trying to pronounce.

Dropping into the uncomfortable metal chair opposite her Charlie had to admit that she had definitely changed over the years. And for the better. Whilst the Rory he remembered, however sharp her tongue had been, had always appeared slightly innocent and naïve, this Rory was grown up and confident.

A confidence that, unlike Charlie's, was probably legitimately earned.

"Hey Rory," Charlie started as she didn't seem to notice his presence.

She glanced up from her book and narrowed her eyes at him. Without saying a word she looked back down at her page.

"So, you're not talking to me now?" Charlie said, sighing.

"I don't recall there ever being a time that I did speak to you voluntarily."

"Rory, come on," he tried, patting the page she was trying to read with his finger. "I just want to talk. Let's try this again. Hello, Rory."

"Hello, Tristan," she replied tightly.

"So," Charlie peered round the student crowded coffee shop, desperately looking for a subject to discuss, "how's things?" He mentally kicked himself, not the stellar opening to what was sure to be an awkward conversation.

"Not you telling Paris, that's for sure," Rory said, determinedly marking her place in her book and placing it on the table as though she realised she wasn't going to get out of this conversation. Charlie noticed that there weren't even pictures on the book cover, meaning that it was the sort of book he immediately bypassed in the shop. If he was ever in a book shop, that was.

"How do you know I haven't told Paris yet?" Charlie defended himself, folding his arms on the table and leaning forward. He grinned inwardly as she leant back to avoid him, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks.

She arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow in reply. "If you had told Paris she would be on the phone this very instant _still_ being mad at you," Rory sighed. "And taking it out on me."

Charlie sighed. "I just don't see why I have to talk to Paris," he ran a hand through his already tousled hair. "There are a ton of people that I was closer to at school. Hell, there's my parents!"

"Your parents don't know where you are?" Rory exclaimed incredulously.

Charlie scoffed. "I figure it's payback for all the trips to Europe they took when I was a kid."  
  
"You went to Europe a lot?" Rory said enviously. "I would have killed for that."

"No," said Charlie, waving a finger, "_my parents _went to Europe a lot. I stayed at home with my nanny or my Grandfather."  
  
"Oh," said Rory in a small voice, "that must have sucked."

"Yeah," said Charlie, shrugging it off, "the stupid thing is that Europe's pretty big so whenever they said 'We're going to Europe' I pretty much had no idea where they were."

"I'm sorry."  
  
"Ancient history," Charlie smiled the smile that he'd used successfully on a million women.

Unfortunately it didn't work quite as well on Rory. "Yeah, but it still bothers you. I mean your parents have no idea where you are."  
  
"Neither does anyone else," Charlie offered.

"Well, give it an hour and Paris will know, right?" Rory nudged.

Charlie groaned inwardly, debating whether however cute Rory was made up for the fact she could be supremely annoying.

"Look, once again, why do I have to tell Paris?"  
  
"Because," cried Rory, waving her arms and drawing the attention of the other patrons, "she's one of my best friends and I can't not tell her when your name comes up!"

"My name comes up in conversation?"

"No!" yelled Rory, noticing the waiter's glare, she continued more quietly, "But if it did I wouldn't feel right not telling her. You and she were friends for a long time, you know?"  
  
"I know that, Rory," Charlie sighed, "but it really isn't the easiest thing in the world to pick up my phone and call her."  
  
"How about I sit next to you while you do it?" Rory offered with a grin.

Charlie couldn't resist, his inner high-schooler rising to the surface. "I tell you what, you sit with me and have a coffee and I will call Paris when we are done."

He could see Rory wavering. "Fine," she said, a gin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Charlie stood to go get more drinks when he turned back to the table. "Are you saying yes because you want me to call Paris or because you actually want to talk to me?"

"Actually it's mainly just the fact that you're going to be buying me coffee."

"Wow, I don't remember you being this interested in music when you were at school," Rory remarked, adding her coffee mug to the growing pile on her table.

Charlie shrugged, taking a sip of his drink and eyeing the impressive amount of caffeine that the slim girl had already consumed. "It wasn't really something my parents would ever have encouraged, you know? I mean, it's not like I'm ever going to be a classical concert kind of musician and anything else was something they couldn't understand."

Rory smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, I remember thinking you were one of those trust funds brats who were headed straight for law school."  
  
"And you were exactly right," Charlie said with a laugh.

"Well, you're definitely different now," Rory said with a blush and an appreciative glance that Charlie didn't miss.

He suddenly felt bad. He liked Rory, she was as easy to speak to as Jen or Joey and yet she was _Rory Gilmore_. He'd had a crush on her for a year and a few hours in her company were reminding him why.

And it didn't seem fair to her that she continue thinking that he was some sort of new, uber Tristan.

"I'm really not," he said in a small voice.

"What?" Rory asked, a confused expression crossing her face.

"That different," Charlie explained, "I mean, yeah I'm different in what I do and I'll admit that I'm not quite as arrogant but I'm still quite a lot like the Tristan you knew," he exhaled slowly, "however much I hate to admit it."

Rory sipped her new coffee contemplatively. "You see, I get that about you and the thing is, the Old Tristan? I probably wouldn't hate him quite so much anymore," she put her coffee mug down and grinned at him, "so the New Tristan? I'm really liking."

Charlie couldn't help but grin back. "Oh, but what about Dawson?"

Rory burst out laughing. "Dawson? God, no."

Laughing along with her, Charlie felt at ease. Rory pointed happily at him.

"Hey, I made you laugh! Didn't think you had it in you," Rory glanced around the table, "Okay, I think that even I have had enough caffeine for the day. Want to walk me home?"  
  
"Would love to," Charlie said, rising and happily offering her his arm.

Rory looped her arms through his, smiling. "And then we can make a certain phone call."  
  
"Rory!" Charlie exclaimed, groaning.

"What? You promised!"

Charlie glanced around the dorm room as Rory let him in. Her suitcase was open at the end of the bed, a sharp reminder that she was only visiting, though Rory quickly walked forward and shut the lid.

"Hiding your unmentionables?" Charlie said, waggling his eyebrows up and down.

"Did you really just say 'unmentionables'?"

"I don't know what came over me."

Rory laughed lightly and shook her head. "Sit there," she motioned to her bed and shot him a stern look as Charlie flopped across it.

He was so busy making himself comfortable he missed Rory pressing speed-dial on her phone and holding it to her ear. "Hey," he exclaimed with a fair amount of alarm in his voice, "who are you calling?"

"Paris," the 'duh' was implicit. Rory smiled as the other girl answered. "Hey, Paris." There was a long pause. "No, I've not finished _Caleb Godwin_ I only started it yesterday and I have stuff to do. Yes, I'll finish it. No, I won't try and steal your notes. Promise." Rory turned and gestured frantically at Charlie who was listening to the exchange with a grin on his face. "Actually there's someone I want you to talk to."

Before Charlie could protest she had thrown the phone at his head.

Scrambling to grab it he shot Rory a look full of hate and then hesitantly spoke into the mouthpiece. "Hey, Paris."

There was a very long pause on the other end of the line.

"Paris?" Charlie tried again.

"Tristan?" Paris said, her normally confident voice full of disbelief.

"Well, actually it's Charlie now. See, I changed my name…"  
  
"You changed your name? What were you thinking?" She yelled down the phone at him.

"Yes, I changed my name. And I go to Boston college, studying music…"

"Music?" Paris yelled again. "Oh my God, I need…I need to go."

And then she hung up on him.

Charlie moved the phone from his ear and looked at it in disbelief. "She hung up on me." He sounded as though he wasn't entirely sure what had just happened.

Rory leaned forward and took the phone from him, smiling sympathetically. "You know that means she's run off to get plane tickets and will probably be here tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Charlie sighed, he suddenly realised how close Rory was to him, "Want to go get dinner while we wait?"  
  
Rory smiled and nodded sweetly. "That would be nice."


	6. Chapter 6

The girl who barrelled through the door as soon as Jen opened it was looking distinctly angry. She paused a moment as soon as she had charged through and barked over her shoulder; "Hurry up!"

Jen peered through the door to see Rory wearily trudging in behind her. She offered Jen an apologetic smile. "Sorry. This is my friend, Paris. She's a little over-eager."

Jen stared at Rory with wide eyes, her expression darting to Paris who was still stood in the middle of the kitchen, being watched warily by everyone.

"Over-eager?" Paris sniped, "Thanks, Rory." She turned her attention to the corridor leading to the rest of the house.

Closing the door, Jen retook her seat at the table. Dawson offered Rory his seat but she shook her head to the negative, instead heading over to Paris and placing a restraining hand on her arm. "Paris, maybe we should just go."

Paris furiously shook her head. "No!" And then she yelled. "Tristan DuGrey! Get your preppy, no-good, disappearing act ass down here right now!"

Rory winced as she noticed the confused looks on everyone's faces. "Hey, Rory?" Pacey said carefully, "Maybe you should tell your friend that no-one lives here called that."

The sound of the back door opening had everyone's attention swivelled to it. Charlie walked through it, yawning loudly, as he deposited his bag right by the door, wearily offering a; "Hey guys," before he noticed Paris' imposing figure, her arms crossed in front of her. He visibly gulped.

Charlie had imagined meeting one of his childhood friends a million times, but the reality of it was spectacularly different. For one thing, he'd always imagined it would be in Hartford when he'd finally gone home. Or in some huge city where he was a successful musician. Or it would be with one of his useless guy friends who he knew he would at least be better than. He'd never imagined that it would be in his small kitchen in Boston with the old friend being Paris Gellar. Or at least, he'd hoped it wouldn't be with Paris. Because he was fairly positive she was going to kill him.

He gulped again. "Hey, Paris."

She stared at him for a full minute before walking across the kitchen and slapping him firmly on the cheek. Charlie winced and moved his jaw slowly. "I deserved that."

Paris' eyes widened. "You think? Because it seems to me you deserve much worse. I mean, my God Tristan! You. Ran. Away. From. Home." She punctuated each word with a poke to his chest.

He backed away until he hit the door. "Hey! I didn't run away from home. I just left military school and came to a college where no-one knew me. At no point did I actually run away from my home."  
  
Paris just frowned, obviously not swayed by his logic. "Semantics, Tristan. Lots of people go away to college, not many change their name, give up their privileged upbringing and cut all contact with their old world!" She threw her hands up in the air. "We don't even get a Christmas card!"

"I lost you address?" Charlie offered meekly.

"We were your friends. We dealt with all the same things. Why did you have to leave?" She looked at the floor. "Why on Earth did you feel the need to stop being a DuGrey?"

"What did being a DuGrey ever get me?"  
  
"Lots of money?" Rory offered cheerfully from the table.

"Lots of money?" Joey repeated weakly.

Charlie chuckled. "Yeah, lot's of money. A guaranteed spot at some prestigious Ivy League school. A guaranteed spot at some prestigious law school. And a guaranteed miserable life."

All of the outrage seemed to leak out of Paris. She stared at him for along moment. "You should have told _someone_." She grinned wryly. "I wouldn't have expected it to be. But at least someone." Paris looked over her shoulder at all of Charlie's friends. She smiled slightly. "I think you have some explaining to do."  
  
She turned to leave, giving him a brief hug. Rory followed her, hugging him a little tighter. She breathed into his ear; "Meet for dinner?" He nodded against her shoulder.

Paris noticed and smirked as they left the house, her; "I knew it!" floating through the door.

Charlie smiled after them and then turned to face his assorted friends, who were staring at him with an assortment of expressions ranging from pissed off to curious.

"So, where do I begin?"

* * *

"Tristan DuGrey?" Jen said quietly, rubbing a hand over her forehead.

Charlie just nodded in reply, Jen had been saying the same thing for the past ten minutes and he'd given up trying to give her a decent answer.

"I just don't get it," Joey practically yelled, "you could have gone to Harvard or somewhere else equally good with no problem."

Pacey shot her a look. "_That's_ what you're concentrating on?"

"Well, if I concentrate on the fact that one of our best friends has being lying about his identity since the day we met him I think my head might explode."

"How could you just give up everything?" CJ asked, his normally calm voice had a slight edge to it.

Charlie already felt immensely guilty and the fact that the normally unflappable CJ was kind of flapped just made him feel even worse.

He just shrugged and tried to answer without annoying his friends further. "I guess I felt that I wasn't giving up everything."

"Tristan DuGrey?"

Pacey shot Jen a look. "But surely your parents wouldn't have been that bothered if you'd decided to study music instead of law? I mean what could they do? Handcuff you to the law library?"

Charlie sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think you guys quite get who my parents are."

"Tristan DuGrey?"

"Jen!" Joey exclaimed, "We get who your parents are, _Charlie_."  
  
"No you don't!" Charlie yelled, beginning to pace in the small kitchen. "My Father isn't just a lawyer, he's a lawyer who works at a law firm that has been in our family since my great-great grandfather! I'm an only child! Do you really think that I was going to be allowed to study music?" He paused by the table, resting his hands on the surface. "The only person who might have accepted me was my Grandfather and he died three years ago."

"You know, man, they might still want to know where you are even if you're not doing their degree of choice," CJ suggested sensibly.

Charlie laughed wryly. "I doubt it. My Mother can't stand to look at me because I look so much like my Father, especially through her haze of vodka martinis, and my Father has been too busy sleeping with his secretary of the week to have cared about me at all since I was twelve years old."

"Charlie," Joey said sympathetically, moving to rest a hand on his shoulder.

"I just didn't want to be the perpetual screw up of the DuGrey legacy anymore," he grinned, adding self-depreciatingly, "I'd much rather be a screw up under my own name."

Pacey chuckled. "Well, that I can totally understand. Though you should have told us, I mean, we've lived with you for, like, a year and suddenly the name on the contract doesn't even match the one on your birth certificate?"

"I know I should have told you guys…"

"Yeah, you should," Jen interjected from where she'd slouched against CJ's shoulder. 

"But," Charlie continued, "you guys knew me as Charlie and I kind of liked it that way. I'm still the same guy," he added, slightly desperately.

"Just with a trust fund," Joey added, rolling her eyes.

"Hey," Charlie grinned, "I'm living under the name of Charlie Todd and I most definitely don't have a trust fund."

"So, how do you know Rory," Dawson asked, speaking up for the first time, "and her slightly insane friend?"

Charlie chuckled. "Paris? We went through the same elite education system. She had, like, the hugest crush on me though I was too busy with a variety of skanks and sluts to notice her."

"And Rory?" Dawson persisted causing Pacey to laugh.

"Rory I met when we were sixteen and I bugged her to go out with me for, like, a year until I managed to kiss her during a school play before I got boosted off to military school. She basically hated me."  
  
"Well, that has certainly changed," Jack said grinning and good-naturedly slapping Dawson on the back.

"Wait," Joey's face was scrunched up in confusion, "Rory's a year younger than us."

Charlie shuffled his feet. "Actually, she's a year younger than all of _you._"

Jen perked up. "You're joking? Tell me you're joking."  
  
"I'm eighteen," Charlie said sheepishly, "sorry."

"Oh God," moaned Jen, letting her head flop onto the table, "I dated a younger guy."  
  
"_Another_ younger guy," Jack offered unhelpfully. "Henry, remember?" Charlie privately thought that he looked way too pleased to be bringing that up in conversation.

"You know what, guys?" Charlie said, edging his way out of the kitchen, "I think I'm just going to go lie down for a minute. It's been a stressful afternoon."  
  
"It's been a stressful afternoon for you?" Jen repeated incredulously, "I'm the one who just found out she slept with a seventeen year old!"

Charlie slipped out of the room before she found something to throw at him. The last time he'd revealed something she hadn't liked he'd found a stiletto heel headed towards his head.

Leaning heavily against his bedroom door Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. He'd actually expected the scene with his friends to go a lot worse. And he'd been expecting more dramatics from his confrontation with Paris.

He ambled over to his closet and dragged out the battered old box. Rifling through it's contents, and grimacing when he noticed the pictures of his parents, Charlie grinned when he found what he was looking for.

Dusting off the old photograph Charlie tucked it into the frame of his mirror, surrounded by photos of all his current friends. He studied it for a moment, trying to remember the boy that had sat and posed with Paris and a handful of his other Junior High classmates.

He decided that he probably wasn't that much different from the man he was today. The overt arrogance of his high school days wasn't present anymore and hadn't yet appeared when the picture had been taken.

Charlie moved back over to the box, pulling out his birth certificate.

Maybe it was time to go back home.


End file.
